I wanted to make use of a different genre for the next big video project, so when I found myself singing about vibrato to the tune of "Desperado," it just seemed right. Besides, I have found that vibrato tends to be one of the most mysterious and frustrating topics for beginning cellists. It needs attention.

A silly teaser trailer I made for it...

Here's the actual video. I hope you like it!

In an effort to help you "get experimental" with your cello vibrato, the following is a breakdown of the techniques suggested in the song.

The Lyrics

The Explanation

Oh, vibrato, why can’t we get you to happen?Been doin’ so muchtappin’for so long now.You’re a hard onebut you’re supposed to be easy,there’s tension that’s squeezin’ youbut I don’t know how.

I’ll have to try some mini-shiftingor just sliding on a tableor it might be good to move with the opposite hand

You can karate chop your cellojust be sure it’s really stableor enlist the help of a pretty pushy friend

Oh, vibrato, make sure you start from the elbowsoon you’ll shout out HELL….Oto a nice warm soundYou just shake it, oh shake itlike a polaroid pictureThere ain’t no set scriptureexcept to set your bow down

If you try all this and still use the bowit’ll change the motion and you won’t knowplus it can cause your whole right arm to want to shake,But if you tap your cello with your leftand practice the feel of a bow that is kept straight

Oh,vibrato, it could be so super simplegotta get experimental to find your commandMay seem crazy, but it will sneak up and get youand you’ll never forget--It’ll feel like shaking your hand.

mini-shifting:Sometimes it helps to start out with a big shifting motion in the left arm and then slowly narrow the motion until your finger stays in place while your hand and arm still move

sliding on a table: Taking the cello out of the equation can have incredible results!

opposite hand: Sometimes the motion is easier in the right hand--and then you may be able to recreate it more easily in the left.

karate chop:Much like mini-shifts, a chopping motion onto the top cello ribs can be an easy way to get used to the proper arm movement

set your bow down:Practice vibrato motions without the bow at first.

tap your cello with your leftand practice the feel of a bow that is kept straight: When you are ready to try to add the bow, just bow open strings while you move your left arm to tap the cello ribs. This way you can get used to the two arms acting independently and you will be able to eliminate "shaky bow" (when your right arm is inspired by the left's motion to move in conjunction with it).

Get experimental!

What method has worked best for you? Is there some technique you like that I completely left out?

Lets' talk! Leave a comment below--I would love to hear from you.

In the meantime, here are a few videos I really like that deal with cello vibrato in a helpful way. If you don't have much time, watch the first one (top left). The adult amateur cellist in the video speaks very candidly about her frustrations--and offers a logical and fresh approach!

As I write this, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance is on repeat in my mind, and it takes me back to the very end of my high school days.

There's a young, sweaty me, sitting on a folding chair on the football field, wearing a robe that feels as though it might melt onto my skin. The tassel on my mortarboard keeps hitting me in the eye, but at least it mops up a little perspiration as it swings across my face...

​Who knew back then that I would be a cellist and teacher a mere *mumble mumble* years in the future?

Back to the Future!

Speechifying.

Uh, I meant to say, back to the present ...

During lessons this week, I discovered that both of my students who are high school seniors this year are valedictorians.

And so was I all those years ago.

How crazy is that? It's all a big coincidence, right?

I'm not so sure!

This got me thinking about the connection between music and the mind.

Listen up

You have all probably heard about the Mozart Effect --the idea that simply listening to Mozart's music can help kids perform better on tests. Mozart's music has also been shown to decrease the amount of epileptic activity in the brain of patients who have seizures (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9660010/).

It's no secret that I love Halloween. Fall is such a beautiful time of year anyway, but in addition to the crisp air and brilliant foliage, I always look forward to making costumes, carving pumpkins, and dressing up.

And screeching and howling on my cello!

For years now, I have been using Halloween as a reason to introduce extended techniques to my young beginners. I like pushing the boundaries of sound production on the cello, and I revel in the fact that the beautiful cello can also sound gross and scary!

For me, cello is a way to express every human emotion, not just the pretty ones.

The kids really seem to dig Spooky Sounds, so I thought I would share them with you too!

New tricks

If you would like more information on what extended techniques are and how to do them, click HERE for a basic list with explanations (and each technique's actual name. Sadly, "creaks" and "squeaks" are not the official names, but they should be!).

Still want more? Check out these articles that delve more deeply into the dark realm of extended techniques:

It does sound a bit risqué, but I am trying to refer to learning to play the cello after you have become a fully mature human being (I'm still waiting to achieve this status, hence all my "adult cello" jokes).

It's one of the most rewarding and intriguing (some of my students might prefer to substitute the word "frustrating" here) endeavors I have ever been involved in. And it is not for the faint of heart.

Learning the cello as an adult takes some serious guts!

I began playing when I was 10 years old after seeing the James Bond movie, The Living Daylights. (Most of my students already know this story, but click HERE if you don't). Though I technically began cello as a child, I did have to relearn much of my technique when I got to college, so I am no stranger to the humiliating task of having to retrain inefficient or sloppy habits.

But still, learning the cello FROM SCRATCH as an adult is a whole different ball game.

I think about this adult vs. child issue nearly every day, since about half my studio is made up of people of all ages who began practicing the cello as a grown-up.

Celli keepin' it fresh

A few weeks ago, we decided during a Celli rehearsal to play a passage of music with our hands switched. (Don't ask why. I'm sure there was some artistic reason for this). So, we put our heads on the left side of our cello necks, used our right hands to press the strings down, and tried to pull the bow across the strings with our left arm...The results were atrocious and hilarious! But an interesting side effect of the whole experiment happened to be a renewed appreciation for our beginning students and the daunting hurdles they face... Especially the grown ups.

One of my adult students recently sent me a link to an article that she said had helped her immensely:

I immediately read it, loved it, and wanted to share it with you as soon as possible, so here's an excerpted passage from the introduction:

I began playing the cello at the age of 43, and at the time considered myself fortunate to undertake this admittedly large project as an adult. As an adult I didn't have to contend with the trauma of outgrowing an instrument. I'd also played other instruments (electric guitar, Fender bass, some piano), and already understood how music "works." Perhaps most important, I had a determination to succeed that few children possess.

But starting as an adult also has unique drawbacks. Playing endless variations of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is hardly interesting to someone who's studied musical scores and performed publicly. Worse, I knew how good music is supposed to be played, and my early efforts were not even close. Beginner children don't know how bad they sound, and thus are not so easily discouraged! Having played blues lead guitar for many years I knew what it felt like to be in control of an instrument - to play with feeling and conviction. I really hated being demoted to mediocre status as a beginner on the cello, and wanted to get past that phase as quickly as possible. What I hoped would be an enjoyable pastime soon evolved into an obsession to become proficient as quickly as possible that now occupies three or four hours of each day.

In the five years since I began playing the cello I've made a number of observations that I believe other adult beginners and intermediate players - especially those who are ambitious and are willing to work hard - will find useful. Like Sergeant Joe Friday on the TV show Dragnet, I have always been a seeker of "just the facts." I'm not interested in guesses, half-baked opinions, or anything that can't be substantiated. The facts I wanted to know are 1) What skills are needed to become an accomplished cellist, and 2) How do I get there in the shortest amount of time?

For your convenience, I have condensed all the exercises he has sprinkled throughout his explanation into an organized three-page warm-up. Feel free to print these out and add them to your practice routine. I highly recommend doing so!

Just wanted to share with you a new solo piece I wrote, based on the tune Pure Imagination. I recorded a video performance of it too (below) so you can hear it and see how to execute some of the technical parts. Enjoy!

As you probably have guessed, I have decided to focus on the bow this month. And I also decided to start at the very beginning.

I wanted to pretend I knew nothing about the bow, since usually when I become a "baby" with a subject, I learn an amazing amount of information. I want to know what I don't know, since I already know what I know... (Um...perhaps I need a bit more coffee this morning. That actually sounded like a great statement in my head.)

So, first, I looked up the subject on Wikipedia, and was surprised to find that a new type of bow had been invented. It's called, the INCREDIBOW. Ooooo, shiny...

Incredibow

Maybe it's not so new... It certainly looks alot like a baroque bow!

Bow from the 17th century

Here are the Incredibow's "important features" from the official Incredibow site:

Hair and stick are warranted to function well for a minimum of three years. We have no idea how long these components will last.

Incredibows need no tensioning. Hair is pretensioned and always ready to play.

Most musicians report increased volume and clearer tone compared to horsehair, with need to rosin less often.

More and more musicians are ordering our featherweight Incredibows, reporting faster action, less fatigue. Some musicians who have given up hope of continuing to be able to play due to arthritis or other crippling conditions, have returned to playing when using our featherweight Incredibows.

Incredibows have been compared by several musicians to good traditional bows costing $500 or more. A couple of cellists have reported retiring their $1,000 to $6,000 bows in favor of using Incredibows.

More and more professional musicians are now using Incredibows as their primary bow for full time play. Bluegrass, Country, Cajun, Irish Fiddle, Symphony Orchestra and Rock Bands are some venues finding Incredibow use - in many countries around the world.

I take advantage of every chance I get to see Yo-Yo play, or watch him teach, or listen to a recording of his, or read an article about him. And in every instance, I am blown away by his openness and genuine interest in learning and collaborating with others. Several years ago, I had the privilege of witnessing a rehearsal of his Silk Road Ensemble. During this rehearsal, mainly led by the less famous members of the group, Yo-Yo admitted to having trouble keeping up with the complicated rhythmic pattern the younger guys seemed so used to executing,

In the music world, there is a lot of "fronting." That makes sense. A life in music can be tough. It seems as though many people protect themselves with an emotional suit of armor that closes them off from other people and inhibits true learning and understanding, all in the interest of self-preservation.

Yo-Yo is more open to those around him than anyone I have ever seen performing. You know what I'm talking about if you have seen him perform with others. He is constantly interacting with the other musicians as he plays. He elevates them to his "rockstar" status by including them in his performance.

But it's more than his collaborative spirit that inspires me. He also has a child-like curiosity, as though he still has a lot to learn. When many see him as the best cellist in the world, he has the openness of a newbie. What a wonderful way to be.

Below is an eye-opening quote from Yo-Yo, taken from the book, Imagine, by Jonah Lehrer:

When people ask me how they should approach performance, I always tell them that the professional musician should aspire to the state of the beginner….To become a professional, you need to go through years of training. You get criticized by all your teachers, and you worry about all the critics. You are constantly being judged. But if you get onstage and all you think about is what the critics are going to say, if all you are doing is worrying, then you will play terribly. You will be tight and it will be a bad concert.Instead, one needs to constantly remind oneself to play with the abandon of the child who is just learning the cello. Because why is that kid playing? He is playing for pleasure. He is playing because making this sound, expressing this melody, makes him happy. That is still the only good reason to play.

I recently stumbled upon an article with links to video footage of many of Jacqueline du Pre's performances. I had forgotten how transporting her playing is for me. Her sometimes dramatic body movements and her exquisite phrasing conspire to whisk me away into imagination.

I love the way she lets humanity seep into her tone production. Instead of shaping every note into a beautiful round rope of sound, she allows a little scratching and gasping. She's an actor, letting her voice crack when the lines call for it.

But Jacqueline du Pre was so much more than that. When I am watching these videos, I feel as though she is actually living the story of the music. Instead of watching an actor speak lines that someone else wrote, it feels as though these are her own words--like she's in her own reality show and we are allowed to spy on her through the magic of TV. Frantic tantrums, serene reflection, and ecstatic joy--it's a wonderful adventure with her!